People venting their marital frustrations on me - Mahama

President John Mahama says his government has created an atmosphere of free speech in the country that enables people speak their mind freely about corruption.

President John Mahama

Addressing some Ghanaians resident in the UK during his last visit there, President Mahama said this freedom to talk about corruption has deepened the perception of the canker in the country.

He said it had also created a situation where people blame him for everything that is going wrong for them.

“And when you have a country like Ghana where everybody is free to discuss corruption, if you wake up and you are angry with your husband or wife you take it out on the President, abuse him on the radio, when you have that kind of society, there are all kinds of issues that come up,” he said.

The president said the anonymity provided by social media also enabled people to put out “blatant lies” about government corruption.

He said some of the lies were so creative that if the people behind them channeled their creativity into lucrative things, Ghana would be better off.

President Mahama had earlier told the BBC that he has fought corruption more than any other administration – a development he said had raised the perception of the canker in Ghana.

He said his government had exposed several corruption scandals, which would not have happened in previous administrations.

“There have been previous regimes where the leader... people have said that they will not investigate corruption and bring down their government. I have not taken that attitude. I have said if allegations are made we will investigate them and those found culpable will be dealt with.

“…And that’s why 165 people have lost their job at the National Service, 35 people are before the courts currently for putting ghost names in the national service pay roll, that’s why we’ve pursued people to take back money they took illegally and so it’s an uphill task but we will continue to fight.”